384 LAWS OF MARYLAND.

shall revert to the State and may be leased again in accordance
with the provisions of this Act. The said Board may, at the re-
quest of any lessee, if it shall appear equitable so to do, upon
cause shown in writing, cancel his lease as to the whole or a part
of the lands leased. The Board of Shell Fish Commissioners is
hereby directed to submit a plan to the next Session of the
General Assembly of Maryland providing for the assessment of
rentals for leased bottoms in accordance with the value of these
bottoms for the cultivation of oysters.

SEC. 103. Any person who may desire to plant and cultivate
oysters in the area hereinbefore designated shall file with the
Board of Shell Fish Commissioners an application substantially
in the form prescribed in Section 101 of this Act. The appli-
cant, who must be a resident of the State of Maryland, shall indi-
cate plainly the location of the and he desires to lease. The ap-
plication shall be sworn to before a Justice of the Peace of this
State. A fee of five dollars shall be paid by the applicant to the
Board of Shell Fish Commissioners at the time of filing the ap-
plication which fee shall be returned to the applicant if his ap-
plication shall be for any reason declined. All applications
for leases pending at the time of the passage of this Act, but
not then actually issued and in force, and all applications here-
after made shall be advertised by said Board once a week for
four successive weeks in a newspaper published in the County
in which or nearest to which the area applied for is located, said
advertisement to describe the location of the area applied for
and to give the name and residence of the applicant, and the
Board shall have no power to issue any lease without such ad-
vertisement. Any three or more residents of this State may
within the period of thirty days after the last insertion of such
advertisement file a protest "in writing against such application
in the Circuit Court for the County in which or nearest to which
the area applied for is located, and the Clerk of said Court shall
thereupon docket a suit at law in which the protestants are to
be the plaintiffs and the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners the
defendant, and the said case shall thereafter proceed as set forth
in Section 94-B, with the right of appeal as provided in said
Section; provided, however, that no such, protest may be filed if
it shall appear that the character of the area in question has
been, adjudicated in proceedings theretofore taken under the
provisions of Section 94-B, or that proceedings under said Sec-
tion are then pending. If no protest is filed within the time
herein provided, all leases issued after the passage of this Act,